The Post-Election Haze

So it takes me 5 months to get back to the blog and the last 7 days feel like the whole 5 months. I will wear black every Tuesday for the next 4 years. Missouri went entirely Republican. From the governor to the state house and senate to Senator and President. Goddamned W. How he can win an election is beyond me. The hardest part of his winning will be acknowledging that he DID win. At least for 4 years I've been able to deny his legally being the Prez. Now, after January 18 or whatever Inaugeration day is, he will be President. No denying it. We worked our butts off here. I am sorry to the rest of the country and to the world. So sorry. We tried, we really did. Here are some quotes from some good e-mails I've gotten in the past week. They say what I think better than I: ___________________________________________________________

Do I think the election was stolen? There is an old African proverb that goes something like this¦ Until the lions have their own historians, tales of hunting will always glorify the hunter... I have come to realize that all of our efforts are not in vain. We are progressives, and the slowest force in all of nature isprogress, always moving forward with the quiet strength of perpetual motion. One day soon, the lions will have their historians.-Dyan Ortbal-Avalos ___________________________________________________________

such an evil society with the right on the prowl- Scott P. ___________________________________________________________

It is much easier to unite against a common enemy such as theBush administration. This kind of battle, which frames thingsas good vs. evil and is immediate, can be powerfully motivating. Instead, let's take the long view and pick 10 or so issues that we would hope for in a progressive agenda (i.e. the environment, ending the war, economic justice, racial and gender equality, education, healthcare, gay rights, outlawing capital punishment etc) and then work on these using the networks that have been formed by this election. What if we all commit right now to giving the same amount of volunteer hours, monetary donations (about 1/2 a billion I heard) and passionate effort that we gave for this election to an organized and united issue based progressive campaign over the next four years? -Jenny Bird ___________________________________________________________

I am still grieving the elections. Obama was a bright spot. Just got to work harder to keep the Christian Right from legislating us right into the 18th century. -My Aunt Renae Mayer (one of the progressive voters in my entire family) ___________________________________________________________

Like many of you, I have spent the last few days trying to figure out what happened on November 2nd and what it means for the future of our country. Clearly, I am upset about the outcome of the election and worried about what new attacks will be launched on our economy, environment,civil liberties and way of life. But to be honest, the strongest emotions I'm feeling right noware pride and hope. -Matt Ewing, MoveOn organizer in the STL, my blue city in the red state
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Who do we need to build relationships with to make change on a deep level,not just for one election cycle? I'm especially wondering how we can connect w/rural people who are being hurt badly by right wing policies, yet seem to vote contrary to their own interests.-Trish Curtis ___________________________________________________________

The Department of Peace becomes ever more imperative. And the eleven states whose Democratic delegations took a strong stand in favor of a Department of Peace will be focal points of all our efforts to get congressional delegations to begin to sign on in support of this concept, which is aimed at making non-violence an organizing principle in our society. If there was ever a time when we needed that approach, it's now. -Dennis Kucinich ___________________________________________________________

Tens of millions of us are disappointed today because we put so much of ourselves into this election. We donated money, we talked to friends, we knocked on doors. We invested ourselves in the political process. That process does not end today. These are not short-term investments. We will only create lasting change if that sense of obligation and responsibility becomes a permanent part of our lives. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter." We will not be silent. Thank you for everything you did for our cause in this election. But we are not stopping here. Governor Howard Dean, M.D ___________________________________________________________

a draft
bombing Iran
bombing Syria
dropping THE bomb on some country
doubling the deficit
another 1-4 in Iraq
throwing out Roe
Ashcroft (or someone to the right of Thomas) on the SCOTUS
federal gay marriage ban
mandated prayer in schools, before sports, etc.
banning immigration/green cards/ new citizenship
national ID card or implanted chip system
cutting all HIV spending or taking Medicaid away from those with HIV (not a huge stretch right now)
cutting all sex ed programs
no child left behind expansion
no federal aid to non-faith-based charities
implementing fingerprinting and testing before being registered to vote
stripping states of all funds to aid domestic violence victims
more tax cuts cutting all taxes for those who earn $200, 000 or more per year
cutting fuel efficiency standards for the 6 mile per gallon H4 due out in 2006
cutting all funds for public transportation improvements
death sentences imposed for non-violent drug crimes

-Shruti and Lynn's Worst Case Scenario list, soon to be incorporated into Not Yet Anyway Bingo Game.
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And this is what I have been reading. All of the above and more. Some of my notes above come from an earlier post and I'm sure will reappear if I figure out how to post our Bingo game.

Sadness and frustration. Soon I have to move on though. Sometime soon.

You won't believe what happened to me today

Some things that we have to look forward to:

-John Ashcroft appointed to the Supreme Court

-Invading Iran, Syria, etc, or dropping the bomb on anyone

-Allowing Bush and Co to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage, include parts of the Patriot Act, and to do away with term limits

-Implementing national ID systems, cards or implanted devices on immigrants or all of us -1-4 more years in Iraq

-a draft

-mandated prayer in schools, before sporting events, or mandated worship on Sundays

-cancellations of elections because "times are dangerous"

-complete cuts in funding to HIV research (not a big stretch right now)

-another four years of the damned useless color coded alert system (will we ever get below yellow??)

The list will be expounded upon and then, when something terrible happens in the next 4 years, you can say, "Well, I may have lost my job, but at least there's no draft... not yet anyway!" Not Yet Anyway Bingo, it'll be a game to play as we destroy civil liberties and the planet in the process.

Go Massachusetts!

Gay marriages are finally legal there. Congrats to all, best wishes, hope the celebrating goes on and on. in other good news, Fahrenheit 911 getting good reviews at Cannes, though no distributor in sight yet. Still, this means I will be able to see it whether it gets to theaters or just released on the internet.

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/opinion/06THU4.html?ex=1399176000&en=303eb37bb2efdc64&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND

I cannot WAIT to see it. I hope for so many things about it, but it cannot possibly meet my expectations.

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0517-10.htm

Too bad Cannes is so far away. If it were LA or NYC, I'd be there. J

on the Londoner is keeping me abreast of the continuing travels in China. I love it, I know where he, Chiara, Fiona, and the others are. If only the Irishman kept up, but he has disappeared to the beaches of Thailand by now I think. I wish I were with them, but then my own adventures will be my own when I go back. I hope they stay in touch.

I think India is where I want to go most. For today, anyway. India, South America, more of Southeast Asia, and South Africa. I'll keep it small. haha

New baby watch, the Kennebeck kid is due in a week and now the Gibson-Thoele baby will be here in December. Fritz is that one, again just for today. I am off to pick up my own charges, canines are my preferred young ones! Two puppies to foster. That will be fun again, I haven't had pups in a couple of months. Perhaps, also, I will have a date this week? Dare to dream. We will see. Off to see the Jim Carrey/Kate Winslet movie whose name I cannot remember. Someone with the "Spotless Mind". Supposed to be good! Later.

What is Terror, Anyway?

Why is there a War on Terror, Terrorists, Elevated Terror Threat Level, etc, etc, and no real definition of "terror"? Aren't average, ordinary car thieves terrorists of some type? What about drunk men who beat their girlfriends- aren't they terrorizing someone and therefore terrorists? Aren't people responsible for prisoners who abuse their charges terrorists? That would cover civilian prison guards and military personnel as well, anyone who has responsibilities to prisoners and who treat those prisoners with disrespect or outright abuse. Terrorists and the war on terror? Sounds like nothing more than semantics to me. Since this is my journal for planning the Big Trip, I have to admit I have done very little in the planning. I have heard from London Jon, aka Jungle Jon who FINALLY left Bejing, God bless him. He has moved on to tae kwon do with some monks south of Bejing before heading to Shanghai. Seamy the Irishman is nowhere to be found, presumably on his way to Thailand. I won't hear much from him, but hope to perhaps see him in the winter in Boston/NYC. The plans will be further along by then, and perhaps I will be living closer to that area. New Haven? Hartford? All to be determined. Katie's graduation is the first step, then looking for jobs and apartments and determining affordability. So much to do!! Tomorrow is the graduation, then Steve Gibson's PhD graduation party, then Courtney and Tom's wedding and subsequent reception. All of this AND catching up on sleep. Looking forward to the sleep and and also to kickball, my first time in 3 weeks on the field. Softball begins next week, too. If the rain stops anytime soon, all of these events will go as planned. 'Til next week!

Jet Lag

How do people recover from being Half a World Away? I guess if you don't work the next day, its a bit easier to recover. Who is Billy Bender? There were 4 messages on my machine with urgent info for him. Does that sound like a cartoon character or someone who is actually wanted by the bank who was calling? Am I supposed to call them back to tell them that Billy does not exist? There weren't even 4 messages for ME, and the phone number is actually mine. I have been traveling for the last 3 days. I spent 56+ hours in transit, and slept only 1 hour of the last 30 of that 56 hours. I'm sure there's some type of equation there, and that this sentence would make sense to someone else who is as jet lagged as me- or maybe drunk. Jet lag is a lot like being drunk. Its hard to form sentences, you want to laugh a lot at things that are not at all funny, and most of the time you want to go to sleep. Now I am back in the real world, listening to Jim Rome and hearing that Bush is stupid and Rumsfeld may be forced to resign. That would be nice. The rain and storms that stranded me in Chicago (O'Hare) for 10 hours yesterday have followed me to St. Louis. Welcome home, here's a downpour for you!! It reminds me of riding a bike in the pouring rain in Bejing, only that was more fun. And now for the stream of consciousness and not necessarily interesting part of what I am thinking!!:::: Maybe its in the haze of jet lag that I have made some plans that I am going to put here. If its public and accessible to me anywhere, anytime, I will be more likely to keep it current and to follow through. I am going to plan to travel for at least a year, beginning the saving and scheduling process today, May 11, 2004. Maybe by this point in 2006 I will be ready. Two years ago this month, I set out on a 17-state, 2-province tour of North America. That trip was about 5 months in planning, I figure a larger scale trip requires about twice the planning time and 4x the saving money time. I've seen the US, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, and now a very tiny part of China. The next part of the goal is South America, Asia, and Africa. Australia is a possibility, but not top priority. Europe will have to wait, though I have more places to crash with friends in Europe than anywhere else. There is much to be determined, but now is as good a time as any to begin thinking of it!! If Bush gets a second term, somtime in the next 4 years would be the ideal time to live elsewhere. It he's succeeded by another buffoon, staying abroad is always an option.